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What's in Your Travel Pack?

When choosing items to pack in your bag for a day of sightseeing, there's no such thing as a "master list" to follow. Some travelers get by not carrying a bag at all, relying instead on strategically placed pockets or a moneybelt to hold bare necessities. Others hit the pavement ready for virtually anything. Below are 51 items that you might find in a traveler's daypack. It just goes to show that people have varying definitions of what falls under "essential."




  • cash

  • hotel key

  • credit card

  • photocopies of pertinent guide info

  • a small journal

  • collapsible umbrella

  • tour book

  • bottled water

  • passport

  • corkscrew

  • cell phone

  • toilet seat covers

  • mints or gum

  • extra camera batteries

  • plastic baggies

  • copy of passport

  • Blackberry®

  • pen

  • mini-binoculars

  • bandages

  • tissues

  • handheld GPS system

  • hand sanitizer

  • Ipod®

  • lip balm

  • crushable hat


  • your hotel's business card

  • small flashlight

  • sun block

  • sanitary wipes

  • Swiss Army Knife®

  • tour tickets

  • medicine

  • sunglasses

  • tissues

  • small digital camera

  • pocket poncho

  • compass

  • fold-up map

  • artificial sweetener

  • comb

  • energy bars

  • travel fan

  • tampons

  • toothpicks

  • prepaid phone card

  • handkerchief

  • phrasebook

  • whistle

  • pashmina

  • receipts

  • Many of the items listed above crop up in posts related to packing on our Talk forums. Here are a few posts about the things we carry:

    --- Poll: What do you carry in your daypack?
    --- How do you record your travels?
    --- Tearing Up Tour Books
    --- What travel accessories do I NEED before Paris trip?
    --- What Can't you get or Live Without in Europe?
    --- Travel Check List

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